AP Test Description
About the Test: General Test Structure
The AP test is 3 hours, 5 minutes long and is divided into two sections. The first section consists of 80 multiple-choice questions and lasts 55 minutes. The second section (called free response) includes the document-based question and two additional essay questions. Students get a total of 130 minutes to work on this section, including the mandatory 15 minutes of reading/planning time. There is a short break between the two sections of the test, so you CANNOT start on the essays if you finish the multiple-choice questions early. Each of the two halves of the test is worth half of the final AP grade. The Document-Based Question is 45% of the free response section grade, and each of the other two essays is 27.5%.
The AP test covers all of American history from the European exploration to the present, but most of the questions deal with the 1800s-1900s. The historical make-up of the questions is as follows:
17% - European exploration - Washington's first term (1789)
50% - Washington's first term (1790) - U.S. entering World War I (1914)
33% - U.S. entering World War I (1914) - Present
The AP test covers the following topics in American history:
35% - politics, government, and laws
35% - social movements and social change
15% - wars, treaties, and international affairs
10% - economic history and technology
About the Test: The Multiple-Choice Questions
There are 80 multiple-choice questions and a time limit of 55 minutes, which works out to about 40 seconds per question. You get one point for each correct answer on this section, and lose a fraction of a point for each wrong answer. You neither gain nor lose any points for questions you skip. (Students who have taken the SAT or are currently studying for the SAT will probably find this system familiar.) This gradng system is designed to prevent students from guessing at random.
About the Test: The Document-Based Question
60 minutes are allotted to the document-based question. The first 15 minutes are for reading the question and documents and planning your essay. The last 45 minutes are for writing the essay. During 15 minutes, you can (and probably should) take a look at the next four essay questions and start thinking about which two you would like to answer. However, you cannot start writing your essay until the 15 minutes are up.
The D.B.Q. question consists of a statement and a time period, such as, "To what extent did the status of Blacks in America change during the period from 1940-1980?" Sometimes the question will include subtopics, as in, "To what extent did the social, political, and economic status of Blacks in America change during the period from 1940-1980?" If the question includes subtopics, you must write about those subtopics in your answer. Sometimes the question will not be a question at all, but rather a statement which you are asked to agree or disagree with: "The status of Blacks in America changed radically during the period from 1940-1980. Use the documents and your knowledge of the time period to assess the validity of the statement." The question always calls for an opinion answer, so there is no right or wrong answer. The amount of points you get will depend upon how well you support your answer with the documents and with your own knowledge.
There are generally nine documents following the question, all of which date from the time period of the question. You can choose which to use, but you should use most of them. Most of the documents are short written excerpts, about 1-3 paragraphs in length. They may be parts of laws, court case rulings, official declarations, presidential addresses, editorials, speeches, books, or personal letters. Not all of the documents will be written excerpts; generally a D.B.Q. will include at least one or two political cartoons, pictures, charts, graphs, or maps.
When answering the D.B.Q., you should refer to the documents and also include historical details from your own knowledge. The graders look primarily for a thoughful thesis statement, sound historical support, and good use of the documents to support your answer.
About the Test: The Other Essay Questions
There are four additional essay questions following the document-based question, numbered 2 through 5. You must answer two of the four questions (either 2 or 3, and either 4 or 5). Which question you answer in each pair is entirely up to you. This section of the test is 70 minutes long; it is recommended that you spend 5 minutes planning and 30 minutes writing each essay.
The two essay questions in each pair ask about different time periods and cover different aspects of history. Some of the questions may give you a choice of subtopics. For example:
4. Explain the reasons for the U.S. entering World War I.
5. Explain the effects of the following on the growth of industry in the 1820s and 1830s (pick two):
The War of 1812
The Era of Good Feelings
Improvements in technology
Increased immigration
You should use plenty of historical details to support your answer. As with the D.B.Q., the graders are looking for a thoughtful response and good historical understanding.
About the Test: How the Test is Scored
AP test scores range from 5 (highest) to 1 (lowest). Depending upon your school, either 2 or 3 is the cut-off for college credit. AP tests are graded on a curve, so there is no way to determine exactly how many points you need for a 5, for a 4, for a 3, etc. In general, the grade curve on an AP test is not as high as on a regular test (rather than needing 90%-100% for a 5, you might need only 75% or above). On many AP tests, you may need only 50% correct to get a passing grade of 3. You can see some sample scoring from past years here.